Five Thompson schools reach highest ranking

Both elementaries in Berthoud top state criteria

Five Thompson School District schools are "accredited with distinction," meaning they meet or exceed at least 80 percent of performance indicators.

Coyote Ridge, Ivy Stockwell and the Thompson Integrated Early Childhood program were Thompson's only three schools to earn the distinction in 2012-13, and they are joined this year by Berthoud and Ponderosa elementaries.

At a work session Wednesday, district Board of Education members heard about the accreditation of its schools for the 2013-14 year.

Coyote Ridge led the district by meeting 97.4 percent of the indicators, which include academic achievement, academic growth, student engagement, and postsecondary and workforce readiness.

Lincoln Elementary's attainment on statewide indicators was the lowest in Thompson, at 36.4 percent. The school is now required to adopt and implement a "turnaround plan."

"Obviously it's not ideal to have schools in our turnaround status," said Janice Marchman, who is the board's acting president during Sharon Olson's indefinite leave of absence. Marchman said Lincoln has taken several steps to improve the low score, including lowering class sizes dramatically and making use of extra funding and attention paid to literacy.

"We have been able to supplement their budget with additional funding that we feel is really going to mitigate the issues. We've gotten rid of combo [split-grade] classes. And their whole staff turned things around.

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Everyone has a new teaching partner. They're really trying to focus on how they're delivering instruction, so I would expect at this time next year they will be moving up," she said.

Nineteen of the 33 district schools listed on the report, including all five high schools, fell into the "accredited" category, meaning they met between 60 and 80 percent of indicators. Eight schools were accredited but are required to submit an "improvement plan."

On Wednesday, the board also reviewed preliminary 2012-13 financial results, which show the district to have the fifth-highest percentage of general fund reserves among the 20 biggest school districts in Colorado. With a score of 25 percent in that category, Thompson trails only Harrison, Falcon, Littleton and Poudre school districts.

Thompson outperformed its expected budget by about $3.7 million, as the district had planned to spend about $2.5 million but instead added $1.2 million.

In terms of available reserves, the preliminary data suggest the district is sitting on approximately $13 million, though about 40 percent of that is already reserved for the 2013-14 budget deficit.

The district's chief financial officer, Steve Towne, urged the board not to get too excited or discouraged over any one measurement, including Thompson outpacing its expected budget or the $5.5 million that will go toward the budget deficit.

"Take all these data points together, and then start reaching your conclusions," he said.

Added Marchman: "I feel like Thompson is in a really healthy budget situation with a positive cash balance. I feel good about where we are, sitting on $29.8 million in reserves. I feel like we're in a good spot there. It speaks to the economic tides turning positively right now that we're getting this extra income."